What happened to using 2 graphics cards at once?

[Abaddon]

I seem to remeber some insane buzz about using 2 graphics cards at once.. is this still the case.. if not, why not?

 

[taper]

It's never been worth the price. For the money of two cards, you're better off buying a single faster one, and there's never a game out that the fastest card available couldn't play. Having 2 doesn't come close to doubling power either.

 

[Aramazd]

Yes, you can use 2 graphics cards at once, but you need a motherboard and graphics cards that can support it and, it's not worth the price IMO.

 

[azzaman333]

It's currently not cost-effective to do it a majority of the time.

 

[GenMarshall]

Too expensive to pull that off and risky as well.

 

[Strider]

It's never been worth the price. For the money of two cards, you're better off buying a single faster one, and there's never a game out that the fastest card available couldn't play. Having 2 doesn't come close to doubling power either.

Yes, you can use 2 graphics cards at once, but you need a motherboard and graphics cards that can support it and, it's not worth the price IMO.

It's currently not cost-effective to do it a majority of the time.

All correct from a gaming perspective, but completely wrong if you plan on doing 3D graphic rendering and the like.

Thought I'd point that out.

 

[taper]

Someone actually needing more than one card for rendering probably wouldn't be asking the question here, and from Abbadon's other recent posts I know that's not what he's going to do.

 

[Abaddon]

Nah, just looking at graphics cards on ebay.. and seeing all these sli (it was sli ones you use two of right?) very cheap and realising i don't see much about it in gaming mags any more.

 

[Quintillus]

Nah, just looking at graphics cards on ebay.. and seeing all these sli (it was sli ones you use two of right?) very cheap and realising i don't see much about it in gaming mags any more.

SLI is nVIDIA's method of using two graphics cards at once; Crossfire is ATI's method. I believe ATI's releasing some new motherboards that will allow you to use four graphics cards at once, but as aforementioned that's probably way above what you need. And I'm not sure they'd work with any but ATI's most recent (read: expensive) cards, anyways.

Chances are if they're cheap, they're probably SLI setups with old cards. It's not usually a cost-efficient method of getting graphics power.

 

[damunzy]

Actually, I have read on www.TomsHardware.com I believe, that running two GeForce 8600 GTSes in SLI is faster and cheaper than 1 GeForce 8600Ultra.

Also, there is a new 3 way SLI for Nvidia . I think, but am not 100%, that it is put out by eVGA: http://www.evga.com/articles/385.asp

 

[vbraun]

IRC, the most significant gains in performance for dual graphics cards are seen when using a huge resolution. I would only consider SLI (or Crossfire) if I had a monitor that ran at 1600x1200 or above, but even then I would probably not follow through.

 

[warpus]

When I first put my system together, I made sure to get something SLI-capable.

I am running one 8800GTS 640mb right now, but will be upgrading to two at some point in the next 2 years.

It makes sense - instead of replacing my 8800GTS with something more up to date, which would cost me hundreds, I am going to increase my GPU capacity by 70-90% by only spending $100 or so. (The 88000GTS should drop down to that much when the next gen cards come out)

So if you plan ahead, SLI isn't actually a bad idea.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

There is now the option of Quad SLi, although I doubt its much stable. As warpus also said, SLi is a good way to future proof. Say you get an expensive card now (Lets say the G92 8800 GTS). In a year or two, instead of buying a new gfx card, you can just find another 8800 GTS on the cheap. And bam, you have an overhauled rig, without spending too much.

This is also why it makes sense to get the latest socket available, or to wait until a new one is released.

 

[Speedo]

I seem to remeber some insane buzz about using 2 graphics cards at once.. is this still the case.. if not, why not?

The only reason to go with SLI is if you're building an extreme high-end machine. Many people get SLI-capable systems thinking that they'll use it is an upgrade, but in truth a newer generation single card is the better upgrade 99% of the time.

 

[warpus]

The only reason to go with SLI is if you're building an extreme high-end machine. Many people get SLI-capable systems thinking that they'll use it is an upgrade, but in truth a newer generation single card is the better upgrade 99% of the time.

And 600% more expensive

A lot of people don't realize that in a couple years the 2nd video card (if you have one) will not be doing as much graphics work as the first; it will be focusing on calculating physics equations instead.

I would never get 2 video cards right off the bat - it does make sense to get 1 that is more powerful than the two combined.

But it'd be a false dichotomy to assume that SLI doesn't make sense in any situation

I am very glad that my current rig will last me years - simply because I've left the option open for installing another 8800.

 

[Speedo]

A lot of people don't realize that in a couple years the 2nd video card (if you have one) will not be doing as much graphics work as the first; it will be focusing on calculating physics equations instead.

So it has been claimed. However it's been nearly 2 years since they started hyping the physics stuff, and most indications now are that if they do anything along those lines, it will be integrated into a single board. Why? It's the same reason that Aegia PhysX cards bombed. People won't drop that much money on a physics card (or second graphics card for physics) unless they see some real some real benefit - but game developers won't spend time developing for physics cards unless they feel enough consumers will have them. And so, the dog will keep chasing it's own tail until someone breaks the cycle - probably by integrating PPU's into graphics boards.

I am very glad that my current rig will last me years - simply because I've left the option open for installing another 8800.

Trust me, I'm speaking from firsthand experience here. Unless you plan to add second card within the next 6-8 months, you'll almost certainly end up where I am now.

My card is a 7800GTX, with an SLI motherboard and all that jazz. Still a good system, but starting to be overpowered by newer games like LOTRO and of course crushed by Crysis. Problem is, the only real source for a 7800GTX card now is eBay - because the 7800 cards were replaced by the 7900s, which have been themselves replaced by the 8800s. And then you have to consider... even if I was willing to risk eBay, I'd get a 20, perhaps 30% increase in performance. Honestly? That's not enough to be worth crap - and I'd probably be paying at least $50-100 to get it.

OTOH, I can buy a single 8800GTS for around $200, and that card will almost double my performance. More expensive? Yes, but the upgrade in performance would definetly make it worthwhile.

I'll stand by what I originally said... SLI as a long-term upgrade option is never really viable.

 

[bgast1]

Just curious, will my ATI X1950 Pro PCIe card be crushed by Crysis? Hope not, I just got the thing last year and spent big money for it. At the time it was considered the best card out there. At least that's what all the IT folks where I work told me. They also told me that crossfire (SLI) was not needed.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Don't forget that a SLI config it will require a powerful PSU. And those aren't cheap either. So when you finally come to the point when you need to add say, the second 8800 you may have to upgrade your PSU too.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

My friend is running 2 8800 GTS's (G92) on a 600 watt PSU perfectly fine. His system has been stable for a week ( the longest time that he didnt turn it off for the night). While gaming it doesnt falter. So a powerful PSU or not, if you get a decent one to support the single card now, its more than likely you should be fine for two.

 

[Speedo]

Just curious, will my ATI X1950 Pro PCIe card be crushed by Crysis? Hope not, I just got the thing last year and spent big money for it. At the time it was considered the best card out there. At least that's what all the IT folks where I work told me. They also told me that crossfire (SLI) was not needed.

Your card is slightly more powerful than my GF7800GTX, and I had to run with settings between medium and low in the demo to get decent performance at 1600x1200.